FINAL BILL REPORT

                 ESHB 1107

                         C 269  L 95

                     Synopsis as Enacted

Brief Description:  Eliminating and consolidating boards and commissions.

Sponsors:   House Committee Government Operations (originally sponsored by Representatives Reams, Rust, Goldsmith, Kremen, Wolfe, R. Fisher and Chopp; by request of Governor Lowry).

House Committee on Government Operations

House Committee on Appropriations

Senate Committee on Government Operations

Background:  In a 1993 survey, the Office of Financial Management (OFM) found that 569 state boards and commissions operated in the 1991-93 biennium.  In 1994, the Legislature passed ESHB 2676.  The bill abolished or consolidated 49 boards and commissions, established a process to eliminate redundant and obsolete boards and commissions, and restricted the establishment of new boards and commissions. 

Unless a new board or commission is established or required by statute, new boards and commissions may not be established without the express approval of the director of OFM.   Prioritized approval criteria are detailed in statute.  The director of OFM is required to submit to the Legislature by January 8 of each year a list of boards and commissions for which approval was requested and those that were approved during the preceding calendar year.

The Governor is required to review boards and commissions based on statutory criteria and, by January 8 of each odd-numbered year, submit a report and legislation to the Legislature recommending which boards and commissions should be terminated or consolidated.  The Governor has submitted the 1995 report, recommending the termination of 34 boards and commissions and the consolidation of 16 boards and commissions into five merged boards. 

Summary:  The following 31 boards, councils, committees, and commissions are abolished:  Law Revision Commission; Judicial Council; Juvenile Disposition Standards Commission; Cosmetology, Barbering, Esthetics, and Manicuring Advisory Board; Shorthand Reporter Advisory Board; Maritime Bicentennial Advisory Committee; Centennial Commission; Student Financial Aid Policy Advisory Committee; Advisory Committee on Access to Education for Students with Disabilities; Timber Advisory Committee; Advisory Committee on Minority and Women's Business Enterprises; Supply Management Advisory Board; Prescription Drug Program Advisory Committee; Telecommunications Relay Service Program Advisory Committee; Laboratory Accreditation Advisory Committee; Metals Mining Advisory Group; Economic Recovery Coordination Board; Joint Operating Agency Executive Committee; Office of Crime Victims Advocacy Committee; Health Care Access and Cost Control Council; Council on Volunteerism and Citizen Service; Commission for Efficiency and Accountability in Government; Technical Advisory Committee on Pupil Transportation; Oversight Committee on Longshoreman's and Harbor Worker's Compensation Coverage; Board of Advisors for Solid Waste Incinerator and Landfill Operator Certification; Waste and Wastewater Operator Certification Board of Examiners; Twin Rivers Corrections Center Volunteer Advisory Group; Advisory Board for Purchase of Fishing Vessels and Licenses; Rail Development Commission; Marine Oversight Board; and Interagency Coordinating Committee for Puget Sound Ambient Monitoring Program.

The following 14 boards, councils, committees and commissions are consolidated:  (1)  the Emergency Management Council, the State Emergency Response Commission, the Disaster Assistance Council, the Emergency Management Communications Coordinating Committee, the Hazardous Materials Advisory Committee, the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act Grant Review Committee, the Flood Damage Reduction Committee, and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Review Committee; (2) the Fire Protection Policy Board and the State Fire Defense Board; (3) the Transportation Improvement Board and the Multimodal Transportation Programs and Projects Selection Committee; and (4) the Sea Urchin Endorsement Board of Review and the Sea Cucumber Endorsement Board of Review.

Votes on Final Passage:

House     98 0

Senate    41 5

House         (Amendment ruled out of scope)

House         (House refused to concur)

Senate    46 0 (Senate amended)

House     93 0 (House concurred)

Effective:  July 1, 1995

  June 30, 1997 (Section 301)